Shewanella oneidensis is accustomed to heavy metals, so this property can also be used to clean iron and lead and mercury elements in contaminated water bodies, even for power generation. After a chemical transformation, a research team at the University of California, Santa Barra, has enhanced the power generation capacity of Shewanella, opening another door for “water treatment†to the wastewater treatment plant. Shewanella was isolated in 1988 and named after Lake Oneida, New York’s largest. The charged proteins in their cells are crucial to its "breathing".
Crystalline DSFO+ molecules are used to drive the generation of Shewanella, a contaminant bacteria.
In order to make better use of this power generation characteristic of bacteria (part of the metabolism), the team developed a synthetic molecule called “DSFO+â€. Although it changed the cell membrane of the bacteria, it could still generate electricity because of the iron. .
The researchers tested on two variant strains of Shewanella and found that DSFO+ can not only completely replace the natural conductive protein, but also perform tasks more efficiently.
The author of the paper, Guillermo Bazan, said: "We replaced the protein on the bacterial cell membrane with this replacement molecule, which can promote the transfer of electrons to the surface of the respiratory membrane. This small trick of power generation gives us the opportunity to study the microbiology that previously thought it was not Existential behavior."
From left, Nathan Kirchhofer, Zachary Rengert and Guillermo Bazan.
Usually, scientists modify the genes of organisms, but the process is quite complicated. They have to prevent microorganisms from “escape†to the wild through various means. Therefore, it is difficult to apply them to the real world.
In contrast, this type of Shewanella that has been chemically modified has relatively limited “effectsâ€. Without a single breeding, the DSFO+ content will be diluted and eventually returned to the "initial state."
Details of this study have been published in the recently published journal "Chemistry". Interested users can read the full text (via Chem).
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